Congregation of Saint Joseph

Trip Date: June 11, 2015
Motherhouse Roadtrip
Travel Journal
  • In the morning, we’re set out from South Bend and drive to LaGrange Park, west of Chicago. Lots of great sights along the way to post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so we can share the journey with people wherever they are.
  • Our podcast guests, Sister Nancy and Sister Erin, talk about the power of community to transform individuals and the world. People in the chatroom agree in regard to the power of online community too!
  • Did someone say “gift shop”?!! The CSJs have a Ministry of the Arts that participates in work of peace and justice. Very cool!
  • There’s a ton of construction on our route home. Instead of arriving in Toledo in the late evening, we roll in well after midnight. So it goes--we often encounter the unexpected on road trips!
Just a quick drive from Toledo to Illinois!

Just a quick drive from Toledo to Illinois!

Taking a walk around campus.

Taking a walk around campus.

This is true behind-the-scenes podcast prep!

This is true behind-the-scenes podcast prep!

Lots of amazing art around the motherhouse.

Lots of amazing art around the motherhouse.

Waving goodbye to the online audience!

Waving goodbye to the online audience!

Podcast Guest Nuns

L: Sister Nancy Conway, CSJ, has PhD in Organizational Development and has worked as a teacher, social worker, and consultant for women's religious congregations. In the early 2000s, the Cleveland Congregation began to explore coming together with seven (eventually six) other CSJ congregations to form one new congregation. Sister Nancy was on the steering committee for that adventure. She says, "It was exciting and rewarding work and led me to be open to serving on the first leadership team of this new congregation, which began in 2007." She is currently serving on the second leadership team for the congregation.

R: Sister Erin McDonald, CSJ, has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Social Work. She has worked as the Director of Service and Social Justice, coordinating student volunteers, campus advocacy campaigns, service immersion trips, and Catholic Social Teaching. She was also the National Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service Rwanda for two years, working as a humanitarian aid worker in refugee camps in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is a second year novice and hopes to take first vows sometime this fall.

About the Congregation

Mission Statement: Our mission flows from the purpose for which the congregation exists: We live and work that all people may be united with God and with one another. It is rooted in the mission of Christ, the same mission which continually unfolds in His church, "That all may be one as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; I pray that they may be one in Us." (John 17:21). Responding to the unmet needs in our church and world, we serve in education, healthcare, pastoral and parish ministry, social work, spiritual care and faith development, and in other ministries that respond to spiritual, social and physical needs.

Click to see Show Notes
Podcast Guest Nuns

L: Sister Nancy Conway, CSJ, has PhD in Organizational Development and has worked as a teacher, social worker, and consultant for women's religious congregations. In the early 2000s, the Cleveland Congregation began to explore coming together with seven (eventually six) other CSJ congregations to form one new congregation. Sister Nancy was on the steering committee for that adventure. She says, "It was exciting and rewarding work and led me to be open to serving on the first leadership team of this new congregation, which began in 2007." She is currently serving on the second leadership team for the congregation.

R: Sister Erin McDonald, CSJ, has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Social Work. She has worked as the Director of Service and Social Justice, coordinating student volunteers, campus advocacy campaigns, service immersion trips, and Catholic Social Teaching. She was also the National Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service Rwanda for two years, working as a humanitarian aid worker in refugee camps in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is a second year novice and hopes to take first vows sometime this fall.

About the Congregation

Mission Statement: Our mission flows from the purpose for which the congregation exists: We live and work that all people may be united with God and with one another. It is rooted in the mission of Christ, the same mission which continually unfolds in His church, "That all may be one as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; I pray that they may be one in Us." (John 17:21). Responding to the unmet needs in our church and world, we serve in education, healthcare, pastoral and parish ministry, social work, spiritual care and faith development, and in other ministries that respond to spiritual, social and physical needs.